A year after Felon Smith’s death on South Side CTA platform, family demands guardrails at train stations

For the past year, Brandy Martin never stepped foot inside the 69th Street Red Line Station.

The 43-year-old could not bear to be in the same place where a northbound train fatally struck her younger sister Felon Smith last year after she climbed down to retrieve her cellphone.

Martin already had to stomach watching a heavily shared video, leaked from the CTA’s system, that displayed the final moments of Smith’s life and raised questions surrounding the security guard’s actions. All the while, her family weathered a whirlwind of cruelty from social media commenters.

But on Saturday, the one-year anniversary of Smith’s death, Martin led about 20 of Smith’s family members and friends to the Dan Ryan overpass on West 69th Street, across the street from the fateful station. After walking over to the station’s doors and releasing bunches of blue, silver and gold balloons, the group stood on the platform to observe a moment of silence.

Martin said she did it to remember her sister, but also to demand change.

“I went down on that platform because I want to make a difference,” Martin said. “The family is very much still mourning. We have nine sisters, now we missing one. And that’s like the worst feeling in the world right now. This is really hard for me. That was a fear for me. And I just actually dealt with it.”

Smith’s family is advocating for a “Felon Smith Act” that would require guardrails, more warning signs and bigger staffing numbers on train platforms. They are pushing the law to change at all levels, including in Chicago.

Before Smith’s phone tumbled onto the tracks, the 37-year-old’s day had taken a joyous turn. She found out she passed training for a job as an insurance broker, so she decided to get off her southbound train at the 69th Street station and head north to retrieve papers from her downtown office.

While calling her children, she dropped the phone and went on the tracks for 17 seconds before the train hit her. In the leaked CTA video, a security officer appears to be walking slowly toward Smith as she climbs down to the tracks.

Smith’s loved ones wore blue shirts Saturday reading, “#No Love on the Platform #No Love on the Street.” It was a nod to the double tragedy Martin and her family endured a year ago, when a week after Smith’s death, Martin’s 22-year-old daughter Akeelah Addison was killed in a shooting while celebrating the Fourth of July.

“The worst feeling in the world for me right now today that I’m experiencing is the fact that I know how my mom feels, because we lost a child in the same week, and I can’t do anything about those tears,” Martin said. “I can’t take anything away. Both of us are strictly leaning on God.”

Smith’s mother, Jorgetta Martin, said the 37-year-old “was a jewel in this family” and guardrails could have saved her and other people killed by trains.

“She had a promise on her life, as well as my granddaughter Akeelah that was killed a week later,” Jorgetta Martin said. “They both were women of promise. it just didn’t make sense to way they life was snuffed out. I don’t want to see this happen to nobody else because this year has been the most painful time for me.”

After the bouquets of blue balloons floated into the white clouds and blue sky, Jorgetta Martin read out an emotional prayer while being embraced by her son and son-in-law. A small boy stroked the son’s side as tears streamed from all three adults.

“I give you glory to her life Jesus. I glorify you Father God I lift you up. I thank you for Felon Smith. As I release these balloons father God, I lift up my family,” Jorgetta Martin recited.

Meanwhile, Brandy Martin stood at the end of the 69th Street platform and hung a blue bag with a heart bearing Smith’s name on the center. A northbound train whooshed to a stop next to her. “That train just scared her soul,” a woman whispered.

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